Tag: tomy

Mo’ Money…(Boxes)

What the listing stated:

2x Tomy Robot money boxes.

One yellow with pound coin on hand and one orange with a dollar on his hand.

I don’t think either are working and the yellow one is missing the battery cover so selling as spares or repairs.

EBay

Two more heading home
Dirty boys – Missing battery cover

Those of you who follow this site will realise I purchased one of these a while back and did the repair here: Tomy – Mr.Money bank

I paid a total of £10:20GBP for the one in that repair post, and he is currently earning his keep at work collecting money for our local hospice charity – LOROS.

These two I have managed to get for a total of £19:26, so in theory these two are in the similarly price range as the other two. These were produced in 1987 to encourage children to save, with the element on a little bit of fun. These money boxes, when in a good, working condition do command a fair price. Just look at the screen grab of the latest prices being charged on the sale sites.

Latest prices

Both apparently, are not working and they do look quite disgustingly dirty, I’ve no idea what the actual faults are but I’d bet they centre around the switch area as that is a common issue. Add to that one of the battery covers is missing, and the price will rise by about another £5:86GBP as I get a new cover 3D printed, that will mean a total outlay of £25:14GBP or to be specific £12:57GBP per unit.

I more than likely will keep one of them and move the other one on. Let’s wait and see what arrives for us to begin the assessment.

Assessment:

Well, have a look at these two scruffy urchins that turned up today. Both in an absolutely filthy state, need a really good clean. It really surprises me that anyone can send such a filthy item through the post. Does it really take too long to just dust an item down with some furniture polish? Thankfully the wife wasn’t here when they arrived or else she wouldn’t have let them through the door 😂

That said they are as described. Everything is in place apart from the battery cover that I have already ordered as a new 3D print.

Two scruffy urchins
First thing to do is to clean them. They are filthy
One missing battery cover, a 3D replacement has been ordered
Setting a good example. My perfectly clean, and working example at the front

Apart from the above all seems fine. I have put a battery in each and turned them on, nothing happens. On the yellow example there is a little contamination on the battery contacts and when I move the battery I do get some motion but it sounds as if there is a sticking or broken gear inside. The orange example is totally dead but the contacts are clean. This could be the classic switch issue. So the order of the day is to get these both cleaned before dismantling just to keep any mess to a minimum, open them up, clean inside and check the gearings and then lubricate with some silicone grease. I’m hoping these will not be too labour intensive as I have been inside one of these before, and I’m more than aware of the issues of small parts falling out.

Repair:

First a clean with some polish.

A quick clean and they come up lovely

Cleaning done, they’ve come up lovely, I’ll give them a final clean at the end after we’ve attended to the internal issues. So let’s get on.

I’ve chosen the orange chap first, however my suspicions about the faulty switch are wrong. The switch tests fine and I then go a bit deeper into its soul 😂

Off with his head and down into the cogs and sprockets

I get down to the motor and the cogs and sprockets and realise the motion has ceased. A little silicon grease over all the moving parts and a little bit of teasing and the unit springs into life. I let it run for a few minutes and then reassemble, cleaning everything along the way. This unit is now working.

The second unit, the yellow one, was working sort of. So as I have done above, this one was also stripped down, cleaned along the way and also had all cogs and sprockets greased accordingly. It also is now working fine.

I have already purchased a 3D printed battery cover to replace the missing one, and this is now installed, so we now have two complete units. For what I’ve paid for 3D printed pieces over the last year, it would probably be worth investing in my very own 3D printer.

The new replacement, 3D printed battery cover

Result:

Well I now have three absolutely perfect working examples of this fun piece of 1980s technology. One is in use earning money for the local hospice.

The Orange one is going to be used by a work colleague to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

Earning his keep

He is selling candles and I’m going to brand this one with a BHF logo to add some fun to his fundraising.

The three amigos

I have put together this little video regarding feeding time for these three . Enjoy!

Feeding time

The third unit will probably be sold on unless I can find someone else who can put it to good use.

Thanks for visiting, as you know it is always very much, appreciated.

Tomy – Mr.Money bank

What the listing stated:

Not working 

May be an easy fix

EBay

Now I don’t half buy some junk to fix, but this one struck a chord with me. Looking into its history I believe it’s a toy made to encourage children to save money from around 1987. So he’s currently around 38 yrs old.

Dirty, as per usual and a bit beaten up. Sounds just like me 😂
Crazy prices

As you can see in the photo above, you could originally buy a set of these, incorporating Dollar, Pound or Euro stickers for the serving hand, the one i have made an offer on is the dollar one.

What appeals to me about this item is that I’ve been looking for a way at work to raise some money for the local LOROS hospice, and this might be a fun way to do it if I can get it working. I plan to brand it with the local hospice details and just thought it would be a fun way to use it. This is a fun object where you put a coin on its hand, its mouth opens, the eyes go up and the coin goes in the mouth. There is a munching motion and then the tongue licks its lips. Or at least it should do. This one I have ordered is having none of that and this is the challenge ahead. These units are notorious for having issues with the power switch, a simple fix if that is the case, but this is me…nothings ever that simple.

And as usual it’s dirty, has marks on it and needs a good clean.

As with everything retro (New antiques 🤦‍♂️) items are attracting some crazy prices, though I do think the general public are not as stupid as the sellers seem to believe they are, as all the above listings have yet to attract any bids. Now the one I have bid on is broken, and yes it has its battery cover. My current bid is £6.70GBP and I must now wait to see if it is a winning bid. With postage (Rip off as usual) the price will be £10.20GBP in total, so compared to the prices in the listings above it is an absolute bargain.

Good news – I have won the auction at this price. Nice.

Assessment:

Well, he’s arrived and just like Frankenstein he’s very dead. He needs an electrical kick start and that’s what we need to do. He’s obtained a lot of scuffs and marks but I think these will buff out. Cosmetically everything is there, even the battery cover and that pleases me immensely. With batteries in place there is not even the tiniest sign of life even if the on /off switch is operated many times. We need to get inside and take a look. Hopefully it’s not too big an issue.

He’s a little dirty, beaten up and scarred

And I’m just so happy he has a battery cover. Exceptionally rare and unexpected.

Repair:

I’ve headed straight for the switch as this is where there is usually trouble and straight away there was a problem. There was no continuity at the switch when operated, so this was removed, opened, cleaned and the brass contacts ground and cleaned. The switch was then reassembled and tested and was all ok.

No continuity, so dismantled, cleaned thoroughly and reassembled

But this was not the problem. Damn it, I now have to take it apart and there is a lot of mechanical items within.

Gradually dismantling

Once dismantled I’ve had a good rummage around and have checked voltages around the electrical circuits until I found no voltage at the motor. The culprit was a small 3inch length of wire that had been crushed. This was replaced and the continuity was now restored to how it should be but still there was no life. I was confident that the electrical issues were no more so it must be a mechanical issue. There is a part of this unit that involves a tongue 👅 that pokes out. This was our issue. The cog and lever system had somehow been knocked out of sync, and once put back into its correct position the unit has now sprung into life. See the little video of this stage below:

We have life

Happy with this I’m now going to review all the pictures that thankfully I’ve taken, and ensure it’s reassembled and cleaned as I go along. The marks and dirt have buffed out nicely and the unit is now extremely clean and looking as good as the day it was purchased. And it works:

Working perfectly

Result:

Here it is now in all its highly polished and clean glory

Looking Beautiful and handsome in its 38th year.

Thoroughly enjoyed this little project, I love the electro mechanical items from this period, they really get you thinking.

The local charity

This unit is now going to have a LOROS hospice logo placed on it to cover the Tomy one as discussed at the beginning of this post. We can then start to gather all that loose change in my work place to pass onto them. They need every penny we can raise. Every penny helps, especially in the current financial climate.

Thanks for passing by, as always it is very much appreciated.

Tomy / Palitoy Missile strike

Here’s what the listing stated:

This is a nice example of a Tomy ‘Missile Strike’ electro/ mechanical handheld game. It was made circa 1979 and is battery operated. It appears clean for age and works, apart from the missile light not illuminating. Battery terminals very good. This is a nice genuine item that is shown as I found it. NOTE – NO BATTERIES ARE ENCLOSED.  Nice example for any collector. 

EBay

Missile strike

On first seeing the listing for this item, my thoughts are that it looks quite clean and tidy. The usual state of these units are quite tatty with scratched screens. This looks good, however pictures, especially from EBay can be greatly misleading so I’ll guess I will just have to be patient and wait.

This units only issue seems to be with the LED missile light, so hopefully it will be a quick fix. These units are currently selling between £52-£79GBP as per the picture below. I managed to secure my unit for a total including postage of £24GBP so I think I’ve done well in that aspect. I’m quite happy with this.

Current sale prices on EBay

A little history:

Tomy released Missile strike in 1979 in its international line of electro/mechanical handheld games. Known under different titles in other regions such as Terra-Hit (UK), Missile Strike (UK), and Space Attack (Japan).  One of TOMY’s electro-mechanical handheld games, Missile strike is a Space Invaders-like shooter game, the units small motor winds strips of aircraft across the screen, which the player attempts to hit in order to earn points. There is a mechanical wind up timer that controls the action, and the purpose is to score as many hits on aircraft as possible with in the time it takes the winder to stop. The game includes one small, flashing LED light as the exploding missile.

So it’s another game that has reached its 46th year, and for the only issue to be its one light source, I think that’s acceptable. Let’s wait to see what arrives.

Assessment:

On arrival the first thing that hits you is that this is yet another filthy item. I seem to attract these kind of sales, so it will require a deep clean. Cosmetically the game is in good shape with no deep scarring and only minimal fine scratches on the screen lens commensurate with its 46 year old age.

Tidy cosmetically but filthy

It was sold as the missile light not working, this is partially right as it is an intermittent fault, I suspect this is down to dirty contacts.

Filthy, and counter not working
Missile light is intermittent

This game has two bands of film that run across the top of the screen displaying aircraft, the top band is intermittent and needs attention. The score counter will also need attention as it is not turning smoothly, again I suspect this to be as a result of the build up of dirt.

Repair:

First thing to do is dismantle the unit and to get some cleaning done. The small video below shows the issue with the top band aircraft not moving.

Film transport fault

I’ve taken the counter out after removing the case and all exposed buttons and switches.

Dismantling

Off to the kitchen sink. let’s get these items washed.

To be cleaned
Getting washed
Drying down

Whilst I’m waiting for the washed items to dry I clean the counter mechanism of old dirt and fluff.

Counter mechanism cleaned, fluff removed. Silicon grease applied

I’ve slightly greased the counter with silicon grease and it’s behaving well and doing what it should. This will go back in place when we do the final reassembly.

The issue with the film movement was a strange one. There was no way to tension the two capstans that the film roll over and there were no teeth missing off the capstans. One capstan pulls whilst the other pushes, all I’ve done is swap these around and the issue has disappeared. About as simple a fix as you can get.

Just swapped the capstans around

I’ve put a little before and after video here that shows the effect of swapping the capstans around.

How swapping capstans worked

The issue with the intermittent light was easy as expected. This is the only electrical piece on this game and it was down to contaminated battery contacts that just needed a bit of a clean with my grinding pen and a wipe over with IPA.

Final little touch was just to accentuate some of the old lettering by the timer. This was just with a white paint pen.

Before and after

Now we can reassemble and test again.

Result:

The game has been reassembled and tested and is now working fine. All intermittent issues have gone and it has now been polished and now looks superb.

AllPolished
Dirt gone
Vibrant colours
Finishing touch

I’ve attached this small video that shows the game working as it should, with no film slipping and lights and counter now working.

Working perfectly

It’s really pleased me this repair, as it’s another one of those mainly mechanical games. Dirt featured big time, and age issues have been overcome and the game given a new lease of life. Another one for my personal collection, it will go on now for many more years to come.

The best outcome that was possible, we have another superb seventies product that has been saved from the scrap heap.

And that is the biggest win of all.

Thanks for passing by, it’s always appreciated.

Tomy / Palitoy Blip LED game

What the listing stated:

Boxed Tomy Palitoy Blip Vintage 1977 LED Game 

Good condition and powers up but need to shake it to make ‘ball’ move.

Could be a spring tension has weakened or something

Box is very worn

EBay

Blip – 1977 LED Game

This purchase kind of excites me as it was a couple of years before games started to go truly digital. The year was 1977 some 48 yrs ago from the current time of writing. It was labelled as a digital game however that was a bit of a misnomer, it was more an electro mechanical game as the battery source in this unit had only one purpose, to power the LED light source. The main guts of the unit are mechanical being powered by a wind up motor that does the majority of the work. However the mechanics within this unit are superb and it’s worth a look under the cover just to revel in its construction.

These units were released at the time when pretty much the only video game available was the tennis game “Pong”. The TV game units produced at the time were selling for around £70GBP where as this unit was priced somewhere around the £8GBP mark. Hence, it was a cheap option for the children and didn’t need extra hardware such as a TV and a power supply. However, it wasn’t a match for the far superior “Pong”. It was in theory a totally different and far more frustrating game.

Want to give it a try? There is a really good true to life version available from the App Store to play on your phone. Believe me it will have you cussing as it’s not as easy as it looks. So realistic right down to the motor noise and light movement. It’s really addictive and annoying in equal measure.

The App for iPhone…it’s frustrating

This video below by Randi Rain shows a total refurbishment start to finish and is a great source of information regarding the breakdown and repair of this item.

Breakdown and restoration of a TOMY Blip

Some history:

Blip was designed by Hikoo Usami for the Tomy Kogyo Co., the patent being filed in 1976 and awarded on December 19, 1977.

Tomy marketed Blip in the U.S. starting in 1977. In Japan, Blip was marketed as World Tennis and differed from the U.S. game by having the words “World Tennis” emblazoned on the screen and replacing the 1, 2, and 3 on the screen with silhouettes of tennis players. The Blip name remained on the Japanese version. In France, the game was marketed by Meccatronic. The German version was called Blip-o-Matic, although the Blipname remained on the case.

It is the timer which provides the motor function to the game. Upon the timer dial being turned, a spring is wound which then, via several gears, drives the arm upon which the LED light (the ball) is mounted. The movement repeats after the ball hits each player’s side 36 times, so it is possible to memorise the sequence of buttons to press.

Wikipedia

I’m really looking forward to receiving this unit and can’t wait to get it up and running again. I’ve been after one of these for quite a while.

For those who may be interested and who have a photographic memory this is the sequence that the movement repeats in its 36 movement cycle:

Pic courtesy of Tech Tangents

Assessment:

The unit is in good cosmetic condition considering it is 48yrs old. The box is tatty but usable and as always smells a bit musty (To be honest as expected). The mechanical condition is not as described and is a total non starter. It seems the winder may have even been overwound, I hope this is not the case. The “Ball” light does come on when batteries are put in but only intermittently and when pressure is applied in the battery area. However the contacts do look clean with no sign of battery leakage or corrosion. And I know someone has been in this unit prior to me as one of the four body securing screws is missing. God knows what I will find awaiting me within. The seller has been a little, how can I say it, inconsistent with the truth in his description of this unit.

But that’s why I buy these things. Let’s get inside and find out what is needed to get it back into being a working game.

My unit. And the ball light came on for a few seconds to allow me to take this picture. Then promptly died again.

Repair:

Open the case and this is what you are faced with.

Complex mechanical interior

If you remove the left and right control paddles you can get to see the mechanism running unhindered. However this one has an intermittent fault where the movement stops mid travel, there is something restricting its movement.

Something stopping movement

There is an inherent issue with these units where the gears have to be set up in exactly the right position or else it does not work. Similar to changing the timing belt on a car. This confirms to me that someone has been inside previously and messed with the gearing.

I also noticed a cog with a tooth missing, this was strange as to be honest it didn’t look as if there had ever been a tooth there in the first place!

Missing tooth
Was it ever missing?

Looking at its motion it transpires that this is another cog that just has to be in the perfect position and the “Missing tooth” corresponds with a flat post on the rear of the gear train. It’s missing for a purpose. This pleased me somewhat.

Calibration holes on the cogs correspond with holes in the shell base.

I put the cogs back in place paying special attention to their positioning and tried the unit once again. Here is the result.

Now a nice smooth movement

Next I’ve taken the light switch to pieces, I’ve cleaned all the contacts with IPA, reshaped the contact and put back together.

Switch dismantled, cleaned and reassembled

I’m pleased to say this did the job, the light works fine and there is no longer an intermittent fault. It’s all that was required.

I have reassembled the unit, given it a good clean and it looks pretty smart if I say so myself. It was already well oiled so there was no need to add more at this point. It is now fully working and will last a good few more years yet.

Now Working

Result:

A successful repair of a 48yr old toy game. I’m really pleased with my purchase and it’s another cracking example to add to my ever growing collection.

All clean and looking smart

Repairs on these games need approaching from a different point of view. The electronic content is minimal and mechanical workings are the order of the day. Look how it has all reversed in today’s gaming world, that’s advancement for you.

Really pleasing positive result here. Another one saved from landfill.

Thanks for passing by and reading this post. It’s always very much appreciated.

Grandstand Invaders from space game

What the listing stated:

Can’t get to turn on unfortunately. No battery cover. Any questions please ask

EBay

Dirty unit
No battery cover

I know, there is no battery cover, however I have already sourced a seller of one if needed. This item looks quite dirty so a good soak might be the order of the day to get started. I’ll wait for its arrival before I jump to order any other bits for it.

Now as I’ve said in the past these units fall into that crazy price category on the selling platforms as the “New Antiques” of today. For an item that was low cost, somewhere between £25-40GBP when it came on the market, they can certainly command a wide range of crazy prices, here is an example of price ranges from today:

The massive range in prices for these units

This one I purchased today only came up for sale about 3 hrs ago and I thought it would have been snapped up by now, it hadn’t so I didn’t hang around any longer and purchased it for a total of £16:38GBP including its delivery. I’m not going to get too smug yet, as for all I know I may have just purchased an empty shell. Let’s wait until it arrives.

Here’s a little history of this unit:

Grandstand “Invader from Space” is a tabletop LED game dating back 45 years to 1980. Four ‘AA’ batteries power the unit or, alternatively, the Grandstand 5.5V@300mA power adapter (or an equivalent power pack) sold separately. The game, licensed to Grandstand, is a copy of Epoch’s “Invader from Space”

The company initially behind the “Grandstand” label was Adam Imports Ltd., (from 1980 Adam Leisure Group Ltd. and by 1983 Adam Leisure Group PLC) founded in 1973 by Chris Rycroft and Les Kenyon of Harrogate, UK. The company initially started as a mail order company and was the single largest supplier of calculators in the UK by 1974. By August 1978, George Bassett had acquired a 75% holding in the capital of Adam Imports for £750,000 cash, plus 60p in the pound of profits before tax in excess of £500,000 for year to December 31, 1978. Adam Imports was re-acquired from George Bassett by Chris Rycroft in 1980. It chiefly imported electronic products from other manufacturers such as VTech, Epoch, Tomy & Entex, selling them in the UK re-branded under the Grandstand name.

Wikipedia and others

So that’s the history

There is a good link to a similar repair on YouTube from a guy I follow named Stez Stix Fix, it’s very much worth a look and he has a great if not sometimes crazy way of diagnosing and repairing items. A cool guy though.

The Grandstand invaders from space game

Anyway back to my own purchase.

Assessment:

I must admit the unit doesn’t look as dirty as in the original pictures. The battery cover is missing and there is a crack in the side and a deep scar at the bottom, this won’t be too much of an issue if I can weld it all back together. I will still give it a good soak to clean it all up though. I’ve put four batteries in place, and the unit is definitely dead. There are no loose wires, voltages are getting around the board according to the multimeter and nothing is getting hot. There appears to be no short circuits, and then I notice this, capacitor CO7, slight bulge on top and what looks like leakage from the bottom. We have a candidate as to why this unit is not working.

CO7 looking unhealthy to me, you can see the component to the left that looks like it’s covered in a fur ball. The result of the old capacitor “coughing”

I’ll whip this out and see what we have but I suspect this old capacitor has failed and is causing an issue, heres hoping I have a suitable replacement.

Repair:

This little beast is a 330uf 10v electrolytic capacitor. I have none available so have had to purchase a pack of ten. These should be here in the next few days. There are three other old electrolytic capacitors that I will also change whilst I’m in there, as these are all likely to fail at some point soon. These components are now all around 45 years old, it’s a wise move to change them out.

One very dead capacitor removed.

I’ve ordered a 3D printed battery cover to replace the one that is missing. This should be here in a couple of weeks.

Whilst waiting I have cleaned the inside and outside of the casing as best I can. I still have a piece of broken surround to repair, however this is just a simple glue and a little bit of support job.

Case inside and out cleaned
Broken surround repaired

The surround that was broken has been repaired and secured with some nylon soaked in a superglue compound inside the casing. It’s rock solid. Outside the break is hardly noticeable. The break is secure and much stronger now.

New capacitor here

I’ve replaced all the offending capacitors and the unit remains dead. I’ve reflowed most of the board as there were some dry solder joints. I’ve also rewired the bridge from the control panel to the main board as one of the wires here had broken.

Bridge required resoldering

After using the multimeter to check some traces and components it’s now pointing to this component (a power transistor D882) being the cause of this catastrophic breakdown as its readings are all over the place. I suspect this item has overheated, the capacitor has blown and then it’s just died itself. I’m probably wrong, but I know what I mean. Probably just a catastrophic chain of events that all contributed to the units demise.

D882 transistor – power regulator

And as usual I have none available so will have to send for some new ones. The new components have arrived and the new power transistor has taken its place on the board. Now reassembled I place some new batteries in and the unit comes to life. It was the power transistor at fault, I should have really checked here first after seeing that damaged capacitor at the beginning.

All old components removed and replaced in this unit

Not to worry though as it’s had a good overhaul and has been totally recapped as a precaution. I’ve used some conformal coating on a few tracks that had some copper exposed after a good clean, to ensure they don’t deteriorate any further.

It has life

The unit is looking really good and these items were traditionally very loud and this certainly is. It’s working well just as it should do and I’m exceptionally happy with this repair. I’m still awaiting the battery cover that I have had 3D printed and this should be here in the next week to complete the fix.

No score
Here we go
3D printed cover arrived. Minor adjustments needed but in all a good purchase

So with that I will bring this build to a conclusion. It has been a fun project, I’ve learned a number of things about this circuit board and gained valuable knowledge.

But best of all we have rescued another item and saved it from landfill.

Winner 🥇 👍

Thanks for passing by